JPH0765789A - Flat fluorescent lamp and its manufacture - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate a bypass discharge and to realize an even light emission by providing a frit glass printing-formed between plane glasses, and adhering airtight an outer frame being a discharge passage and partition plates so as to form the discharge passage. CONSTITUTION:Between a plane form front glass 2 and a plane form rear glass 10, the outer frame 11 of a discharge passage A of a slender glass piece is provided, and both glasses are sealed airtight by a frit glass 13. On the other hand, partition plates 12 of slender glass pieces are provided in parallel inside a part surrounded by the outer frame 11, so as to form a meandering discharge passage A. Between the partition plates 12 and the glasses 2 and 10, a frit glass 13 is used to adhere them airtight. To the frit glass 13, a specific pattern is form by applying a screen printing or the like to the glasses 2 and 10. As a result, no bypass discharge is generated between the neighboring discharge passages in the meandering discharge passage, even though a narrow width of partition plates are used, and nonluminous parts by the partition plates can be reduced, so as to improve the brightness distribution.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a flat fluorescent lamp and a manufacturing method thereof, and more particularly to a flat fluorescent lamp used for a backlight of a liquid crystal display panel and a manufacturing method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A flat fluorescent lamp is used as a backlight of a liquid crystal display panel. A conventional example of the flat fluorescent lamp will be described with reference to FIGS. The flat fluorescent lamp has a structure in which a front surface glass 2 is superposed on a rear surface glass 1 in a close contact state.

A back glass 1 is provided with a W-shaped meandering recess 2a, and a meandering discharge path A is formed between the recess 2a and the front glass 2. A fluorescent film 5 is deposited on the bottom surface of the recess 2 a of the backside gas 1 forming the discharge path A and the backside of the front glass 2. Electrodes 6, 7, and 8 including a mercury dispenser (not shown) are arranged at both ends of the discharge path A and the central inflection part. The part of the discharge path A where the electrodes 6, 7, 8 are arranged is hermetically sealed with frit glass. The discharge path A is evacuated and filled with an inert gas such as argon or neon. The flat fluorescent lamp is configured as described above, and the electrodes 6, 7, and 8 are heated at high frequency to generate mercury vapor, and the discharge path A is filled with mercury vapor. Then, by applying a high voltage between the electrodes 6 to 8 and discharging, ultraviolet rays are generated from the mercury vapor and the fluorescent film 5 emits light, and a part of this light is transmitted through the surface glass and a part is reflected. Although the light is reflected by the light source 3 and is emitted in a planar manner through the diffuser plate 4 over the entire surface of the diffuser plate 4, the back glass 1 is made by die molding (not shown), so that 1 A is narrow between the discharge path and the discharge path. (2 mm or less) is not possible, and uneven light emission occurs when discharged.

[0004]

By the way, in the conventional flat fluorescent lamp, the discharge passage A has a flat cross-sectional shape and the distance 1A between the discharge passages is wide, so that the discharge passage A is in the vicinity of the central portion thereof. Emits a strong light, but weakly emits light on both side edges of the discharge path A. Therefore, linear dark portions are formed along both side edges of the discharge path A, and a uniform surface emission state cannot be obtained. Therefore, when it is used as a backlight of a liquid crystal display panel in a liquid crystal television, a notebook computer, etc., there is a problem in that the uneven distribution of luminance results in an uneven luminance distribution and the liquid crystal display panel is difficult to see. In addition, the diffusion plate 4 arranged on the surface glass is used as the surface glass 2.
If the distance is further away, it is possible to improve the uniformity of the luminance distribution, but the thickness dimension increases, which makes it difficult to reduce the thickness of the liquid crystal display panel. Further, since the glass plate having the concave portion is used, the cost of the mold is high.

Therefore, the present invention has been proposed in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an inexpensive flat fluorescent lamp with improved uniformity of luminance distribution and reduced thickness. To do.

[0006]

According to the flat fluorescent lamp of the present invention, an outer frame made of glass pieces is airtightly adhered between two front and back glass plates facing each other along the peripheral edge of the glass plates by frit glass. At the same time, partition plates made of glass pieces are arranged in parallel inside the outer frame and are bonded to the glass plate with frit glass to form a discharge path having a bent portion.

Further, when manufacturing a glass container for a flat fluorescent lamp, the glass piece is planted in the groove of an assembly jig having a groove for temporarily fixing the glass piece for the outer frame and the glass piece for the partition plate. Standing, a back glass (or front glass) on which frit glass is printed and formed in advance at a position where the outer frame and the partition plate are adhered is brought into contact with the planted glass piece, and a load is applied to the back glass (or front glass). It is characterized by comprising a step of heating the frit glass in the above state and melting the frit glass to hermetically adhere the outer frame and the partition plate to the glass plate.

[0008]

In the flat fluorescent lamp according to the present invention, the outer frame serving as the discharge path and the partition plate are airtightly adhered to the flat glass by the frit glass formed by printing on the flat glass to form the discharge path. It is no longer necessary to use the formed glass plate, and even if the partition plate width is made thin, bypass discharge is eliminated, and since the partition plate width is narrow, uniform light emission is possible, so it is cheap, thin, and has a good brightness distribution surface. Type fluorescent lamp can be provided.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. However, the same components as those of the conventional one are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

In the flat fluorescent lamp according to the present invention, a meandering discharge path is formed by an elongated glass piece between two flat glass sheets, and the glass piece and the flat glass are hermetically sealed with a frit glass. Characterize. That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, between the front surface glass 2 on the flat plate and the flat back glass 10, the outside of the discharge path A formed of elongated glass pieces along the peripheral edges of these glass plates. A frame 11 is provided,
The glass members are hermetically sealed with the frit glass 13.

On the other hand, partition plates 12 made of elongated glass pieces are arranged in parallel inside the outer frame 11 to form a meandering discharge path A. The partition plate 12 and the front surface glass 2 and the rear surface glass 10 are also airtightly bonded by the frit glass 13.

The partition plate 12 has a thickness 12a of 0.2 to 3 m.
m is desirable. If it exceeds 3 mm, the area of the non-light emitting portion increases and the luminance distribution deteriorates. If it is thinner than 0.2 mm, the strength decreases.

The frit glass 13 is formed in a predetermined pattern on the front glass 2 and the back glass 10 by screen printing or the like. The frit glass thickness is 0.2-0.5 mm
If it is less than 0.2 mm, the adhesion may be incomplete and the airtightness may be insufficient, and if it exceeds 0.5 mm, the bonding interval between the glasses may not be constant, the parallelism may decrease, and the distortion may occur. It tends to remain and has poor mechanical strength.

In the present invention, since the partition plate 12 is airtightly adhered to the front surface glass 2 and the rear surface glass 10 with frit glass,
Even if the partition plate 12 having a narrow width is used, bypass discharge does not occur between the discharge paths adjacent to the meandering discharge path, and the non-light emitting portion due to the partition plate can be reduced to improve the luminance distribution.

Next, a method of assembling the glass container for a flat fluorescent lamp having the above structure will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 is a plan view of the flat fluorescent lamp assembly placed on the assembly jig 20, and FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional side view seen from the longitudinal direction of FIG. The assembling jig 20 is formed with a groove 20b for inserting and temporarily fixing a glass piece at a position corresponding to the outer frame and a position corresponding to the partition plate.
Set the glass piece for the outer frame and the glass piece for the partition plate.
Next, the back glass 10 (or the front glass 2) on which the frit glass is printed and formed in a predetermined thickness in advance at the position where the outer frame and the partition plate are bonded is positioned by the positioning portions 20a, 20a and placed on the glass piece, and the back surface is placed. The frit glass is melted by heating in a baking furnace with a load 15 applied from above the glass 10, and the outer frame 11 and the partition plate 12 are attached to the back glass 10.
Glue and. Next, the front glass 2 (or back glass 10) printed with frit glass, the outer frame, and the partition plate are frit-sealed to form a glass container for a flat discharge lamp.

A load of 20 to 60 g / cm ² is desirable. If it is less than 20, the adhesion will be insufficient, and if it exceeds 60, the glass will be easily broken.

Further, the back glass 10 which forms the discharge path A
A fluorescent film 5 is attached to the bottom surface of the and the back surface of the front glass 2. Electrodes 6, 7, and 8 including a mercury dispenser (not shown) are arranged at both ends and the center of the discharge path A. The leads 6a, 7a, 8a of the electrodes 6, 7, 8 are also hermetically sealed by frit glass. The discharge path A is evacuated and filled with an inert gas such as argon or neon. The flat fluorescent lamp is configured as described above, and the electrodes 6, 7, 8 are heated at high frequency to generate mercury vapor, and the discharge path A is filled with the mercury vapor. Then, by applying a high voltage between the electrodes 6 to 8 and discharging, ultraviolet rays are generated from the mercury vapor and the fluorescent film 5 emits light, and this light passes through the surface glass and passes through the diffuser plate 4 to pass through the diffuser plate 4. Light is emitted uniformly and evenly over the entire surface.

[0018]

According to the present invention, since the outer frame portion and the discharge path portion are formed by the elongated glass pieces on the back glass and the front glass by using the assembly jig, it is necessary to use the glass in which the recess is formed. Since flat glass can be used for both the front and back, processing costs can be reduced, and yield and workability can be improved.

Further, since the partition plate width is narrow, the adjoining intervals of the meandering discharge paths can be made small and the uneven brightness can be reduced.
The height of the spacer inserted between the surface glass and the diffusion plate can be made low, and a flat fluorescent lamp having a thin shape and improved uniformity of luminance distribution can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway plan view of a flat fluorescent lamp of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line XX of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view for explaining a method of manufacturing a flat fluorescent lamp according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional side view of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway plan view of a conventional flat fluorescent lamp.

6 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line YY of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a rear surface glass in which a concave portion of a conventional flat fluorescent lamp is formed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Surface glass 5 Fluorescent film 6,7,8 Electrode 10 Back glass 11 Outer frame 12 Partition plate 12a Partition plate thickness 13 Frit glass 15 Load 20 Assembly jig A Discharge path

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. Between two glass plates arranged opposite to each other,
An outer frame made of glass pieces is airtightly bonded along the periphery of the glass plate with frit glass, and a partition plate made of glass pieces is arranged in parallel inside the outer frame and bonded to the glass plate by frit glass. A flat fluorescent lamp in which a discharge path having a bent portion is formed. 2. The flat fluorescent lamp according to claim 1, wherein the partition plate has a thickness of 0.2 to 3 mm, and the frit glass has a thickness of 0.2 to 0.5 mm. 3. When manufacturing a glass container for a flat fluorescent lamp, a glass for an outer frame is provided in the groove of an assembly jig in which a groove for temporarily fixing the glass piece for an outer frame and the glass piece for a partition plate is formed. Piece and a glass piece for a partition plate are planted, and a back glass (or front surface glass) on which frit glass is printed and formed in advance at a position where the outer frame and the partition board are bonded is brought into contact with the planted glass piece, and the back surface is A method for manufacturing a flat fluorescent lamp, comprising a step of heating glass (or surface glass) under a load, melting frit glass, and hermetically adhering an outer frame and a partition plate to the glass plate.